Education reporter

A trio of University of Georgia students is pressing the UGA administration to make the university’s most central symbol accessible to everyone and they’re gaining a lot of support.

Technically, the UGA Arch is accessible to those with limited mobility disabilities; there’s a ramp on the opposite side of the Hunter-Holmes Academic Building from the Arch.

But Khaled Alsafadi, who will graduate this year, wants to be able to go through the Arch as other students do when they graduate from UGA. Alsafadi uses a wheelchair to get around. He can get to the Arch, but not walk through it because of its steep steps leading down from the UGA campus to the sidewalk beside Broad Street.

UGA orientation leaders tell new students they’re not supposed to go through the Arch until they graduate, and Alsafadi would like to participate in that tradition, he said.

Alsafadi, Carden Wyckoff and Marquise Lane, also UGA students with mobility disabilities, recently started a Facebook page on the issue and mounted a petition drive.

A paper petition they and others have been circulating on campus has garnered more than 5,000 signatures. An online petition at Change.org has nearly 1,000. Nearly 2,000 people like their Facebook page.

“I will have earned the rite of passage in 2015 when I graduate,” Wyckoff said. “I should not be prevented from partaking in one of the traditions here at the university.”

But it’s not just about these three students, or even just about other students with mobility disabilities, said Wyckoff.

It’s also about older alumni or other visitors who may be challenged by stairs.

“This is about equal access,” she said. “That’s our ultimate goal.”

The students have met or corresponded with administrators in UGA’s Division of Student Affairs.

UGA Vice President for Student Affairs Victor Wilson told them last month that university administrators are considering erecting a temporary ramp at the arch during special occasions such as UGA graduation. But UGA officials should be thinking about something permanent and more attractive, the students argue.

“The Arch is very symbolic, and this would symbolize the university’s efforts to include the whole UGA family,” Alsafadi said. “People with wheelchairs, people with walkers, people with canes, we should all have equal access to it.”

The Arch not just a symbol for UGA seniors. It is also the place where people create spontaneous memorials, such as happened after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and is often a gathering place for protesters.

“This isn’t just about being able to participate in a tradition,” she said “We’re really passionate about creating equal access. That’s our ultimate goal.”

Administrators are listening, said UGA spokesman Tom Jackson.

“Right now we’re reviewing all options,” he said. “There’s no immediate solution, for the next commencement. But I don’t think any doors are closed right now. It’s symbolic and symbolic things are important.”